Protecting Your Computer from Intruders

Wireless networks are growing in popularity because of the ease of installation and the terrific benefits that they offer. Nothing beats the ability to take your laptop and not have to worry about plugging into the network to do your work. The added freedom of a wireless network is very pleasing. Nevertheless, many people do not realize how insecure most wireless networks actually are.To fully understand this, you must realize how exactly a wireless network works.

Basically, wireless connections are made up of a base station and a client adapter. The wireless base station broadcasts all of the data to the clients in a circle around the base station, as do the client’s adapters. This creates a large area over which information is broadcast. If you care about the security of your computer and personal information such as credit card numbers, you must configure your wireless base station to encrypt the data that it sends. Otherwise, just about anyone can connect to your wireless network and gain access behind your firewall to all of your unprotected computers. Additionally, users can sniff the wireless traffic and see exactly what you are sending back and forth.

It really is amazing how many people leave encryption turned off on their wireless base stations. I was always surprised when I took the train into Chicago and worked on my laptop on board. Every now and then, I would notice my laptop connecting to various wireless access points for a few seconds as the train was moving past them. Securing your wireless base station/access point is very important.